Debt-ceiling bill passes House 221-201, without support of Texas Republicans

Texas representatives were loyal to their parties Tuesday in a House vote that passed a clean debt ceiling bill 221-201. All 24 Republicans from Texas voted against the bill, and all 12 Democrats voted in favor of it.

The bill lifts the debt ceiling until March 2015, postponing the underlying political battle until after this year’s midterm elections.

Only 28 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, after major gridlock because most party members were unwilling to vote in favor of the bill without attaching language that would advance the Republican agenda, including reforms to Obamacare and the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Because of Democrats’ unwillingness to compromise on their desire for a clean bill, Speaker Boehner (R-Ohio) was forced to back down. Both he and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) voted in favor of the bill, despite original intentions to attach Republican provisions to it.

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) said in a statement Tuesday that Congress acted responsibly by voting to avoiding default and paying its bills without attaching partisan agenda items.

“By raising the debt ceiling and preventing an unprecedented national default, Congress is simply paying for the bills the nation has already incurred,” Castro said. “Paying for the bills we owe is a responsibility of government that should not be up for partisan debate. Just like every American family has to pay its bills so does our nation.”

But Rep. Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands) disagreed, saying that the passage of this bill is just further proof of Democrats’ willingness to spend wastefully and ignore necessary reforms.

“President Obama and Senate Democrats will continue to spend taxpayer dollars recklessly,” Brady said. “Republicans have already forced over $2 trillion in spending cuts into law, but we need to do much more to get America back on the path to a balanced budget.”

The heavily divided Congress will not face another major fiscal decision for more than eight months, when government funding expires on Sept. 30. A $1.1 trillion spending bill was passed by the House in January.